Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is the debut book by Max Porter, a novella about grief, published in 2015.^[1][2][3]

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

Author	Max Porter
Language	English
Publisher	Faber and Faber
Publication date	2015
Publication place	United Kingdom
Awards	Dylan Thomas Prize
ISBN	9780571323760
Followed by	Lanny

Details

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is a "book about death and its grief-stricken consolations – love and art" through the story "of a grieving writer and father of two young boys, who is coming to terms with the death of his wife while writing a book about Ted Hughes". It uses text, dialogue and poetry.^[4] The book is narrated from rapidly alternating perspectives: the Dad, the Boys, and Crow—a human-sized bird that can speak, "equal parts babysitter, philosopher and therapist" to the family.^[5][6]

The title refers to a poem by Emily Dickinson, ""Hope" is the thing with feathers".^[7] Crow is the Crow from Ted Hughes' 1970 poetry book.^[8]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2015	Goldsmiths Prize	—	Shortlisted	[9][10][11]
	Guardian First Book Award	—	Shortlisted	[12]
2016	Books Are My Bag Readers' Award	Fiction	Won	[13][14]
	Dylan Thomas Prize	—	Won	[15][16]
	Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award	—	Won	[17]
2017	Europese Literatuurprijs	—	Won	[18]

Adaptions

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers was adapted into a play of the same name, directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy.^[19]

In 2024, a film adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch, titled The Thing with Feathers, began production. Principal photography was underway by early 2024.^[20][21]